Prelude
by Arekuzanra
Summary: Pre-Twilight Princess These events take place mere weeks, days, even hours before the events of Twilight Princess. Take a look at what happened in Hyrule Castle as Zant attacked, the sudden attack on Kakariko Village, even the events of Zora's Domain.


**Disclaimer: **The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is owned by Nintendo.

**Prelude**

Mid-afternoon fell upon the land of Hyrule and the castle of Hyrule was eerily silent. The only sounds to be heard were the clanking of guard's heavy armor as they moved about the castle corridors and the shuffling of maids and servants, attending to the castle. The matriarch of the land sat at her throne, her hard blue eyes focused on the marble walls. The silence was deadly, especially when the castle was situated in one of the most populated towns. However, the matriarch was troubled and this was something that worried her people. She was almost never troubled.

The silence was shattered when screams traveled through the air from the town below. The blonde haired woman stood quickly and a few soldiers moved to stand in front of her. The captain of the royal guards quickly left the throne room in order to look out upon the town. What he saw was something he found quite gruesome. Dark creatures as big as bears were in the town, headed straight for the castle. What caused him trouble, however, was the fact that they were taking down his men quickly as they attempted to defend the people of the town and the castle gates. It was bloody and he thanked the goddesses that the blood of the townspeople had not yet been spilled. What troubled him more than that, however, was the fact that the creatures were taking down his men and advancing through the gates of the castle. He thought he saw someone leading the creatures, but he had seen only a glimpse before the screams of maids on the first floor of the castle rang through the air.

He knew his only mission was to defend his lady. He reentered the throne room and took his place at his matriarch's side as a few lower guards began to shut the large doors. However, their attempts were futile as the doors were only thrown open and many of the creatures had begun to spill in through the open doors. How were they able to make it up so quickly? Many guards stood defensively in front of the woman, but fell to the strong, deadly claws of the monsters. The matriarch herself held a sword tightly in her hand, glaring coldly as a man in odd armor entered surrounded by the dark monsters. She would fight, with the blessing of Nayru, if it meant peace for Hyrule. However, the man stopped in the middle of the room, seeming to look around himself before looking back in the direction of the blonde haired woman.

"It is time for you to choose: surrender or die." He spoke threateningly through his helmet. The woman only clenched the sword tighter. This only seemed to amuse him as his tone became mocking. "Oh yes, a question for all the land and people of Hyrule... Life? Or death!"

This caused the woman to freeze. If she fought and fell, then it would mean the death of her people…But if she surrendered, what would become of her land and her people then? She held back a light whimper at seeing one of the monsters grab the face of the captain and she looked down, a single tear slipping down her cold, pale cheek.

Matriarch Princess Zelda let the sword fall to the ground.

From the Castle Town, people gazed up at the castle, fear flowing thick through their blood. It began to rain on their land and they could only pray that it would stop the fires that had begun to sprout through the higher areas of the castle. Unaware of anything around them, the world around them became cold and dark…And the twilight descended upon them.

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Death Mountain had been dormant for many years and had not had an eruption for more than one hundred years. It was a long time home to the Gorons of Hyrule and, in recent years, held the mines that were used for the making of bombs as well as the making of weapons. It was a generally peaceful place since humans and Gorons were able to live together with no problem. However, the peace was to be shattered only a few days after the attack on Hyrule Castle. Word had not yet traveled to the province of Eldin as many were unable to leave Castle Town in fear of being killed by the sudden increase of goblins and other odd creatures in Hyrule Field.

The four Goron elders walked into the Goron Mines, making their way about the mines, their patriarch walking closely behind. Death Mountain, for the past day or so, had been acting oddly after an intrusion that happened late in the night. They walked through the mines, looking about at the lava that had become great in size. It had been very low before, but now looked to be about as deep as a lake. This was definitely not a good sign. As they continued through, the patriarch, Darbus, turned to look at the final room of the mines, which was often kept closed since it was mainly just an empty, cool room with no real use. However, he felt as if something in there was calling to him.

Leaving the other elders for the moment, he walked to the door and lifted it open, peering inside. In the center of the room was an odd shaped sort of rock. Curious, Darbus continued into the room and walked to the rock, examining it. He reached down to touch it and as soon as his large hand came in contact with it, he let out a loud cry of pain. The rock dropped from his hand, but suddenly began to float in front of him. He stepped back in shock as the four elders came rushing to their patriarch's aid. However, as they entered the room, they found they were too late. The rock with its dark magic had attached itself to Darbus's head and he began to move about in a violent matter. The whole mountain seemed to shake and this caused the volcano to tremble before the hot rocks began to shoot from its peak. 

The elders were unsure of what to do. They had to work fast, though, for the more that Darbus thrashed about, the more the volcano would react and they could not let it erupt with the village below filled with humans. The four looked at each other. They knew what had to be done. It took many hours before they were able to get chains hooked to their patriarch's wrists and ankles for it took that long for Darbus to become weary from his thrashing and rest long enough for the four to imprison him. They left the room and locked it tight. Gor Coron turned to face his companions.

"I will go back to the outside and tell people to keep humans away from this land. We must keep them safe at all costs." He then took the key and split it into three separate parts. He handed a part of each of them. "Give this to the one who will help our patriarch." He knew, in his heart, that someone would come. They just had to. The three elders nodded and began to leave to find a place to wait throughout the mines. Gor Coron looked back at the door with a grim expression.

"Please forgive us, my patriarch. We had no other choice." He muttered before turning, making his way to the exit of the mines to deliver the news.

It wasn't long before the Gorons began to disappear from Kakariko Village and prevent humans from entering their mines. 

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It had been a week since the attack upon Hyrule Castle (which the people of Kakariko Village were unaware of) and three days since the sudden disappearance of the Gorons in Kakariko Village. Children played in the streets and in the spring of Eldin. Everything seemed peaceful to the eyes of the children and it almost seemed as if they had not noticed the Gorons' absence in their lives. However, the adults of the village began to gather in the sanctuary of the shaman of the village. The shaman, Renado, stood in the middle of the room as everyone took their seats around him. Talking soon ceased as he cleared his throat and began to speak.

"I am sure you all are aware of the sudden hostility the Gorons have been showing as of late." He began and many nodded their heads in agreement, muttering around. When the room fell silent again, he continued. "We must try to continue living normal lives for as long as possible until the Gorons are able to overcome their problem."

Outbursts from many of the villagers erupted through the room, many being shop keepers.

"How will I be able to make and sell my bombs without supplies from the mines!" Barnes of the bomb shop yelled out.

"Without the Gorons, how are we able to do some of the heavier work? We have no way to transport many of our larger supplies since this town is already so low on funding!" A woman exclaimed. Her husband gently patted her hand in attempts to calm her down.

Protests continued to ring through the room until Renado called the room to order.

"We will just have to wait. We cannot interfere if they do not wish for us to. Please understand that even though life will not be as easy as before, we will still manage to make it through the day. If the problem with the Gorons continues on for more than two weeks, then we shall take action and figure out a way to help them. Until then, we must continue on with our normal life."

The room was silent. Everyone knew the man was right, but it was hard to accept that things would be more difficult than before. Barnes was still very much upset with this as he would be unable to do business as long as he could not get into the mines. The meeting came to an end soon and people began to leave to attend to their shops and homes. Renado let out a sigh and sat down on the concrete bench against his walls. He hoped the Gorons would be able to fix their problem soon or there would be many problems within the village.

A week passed with no change in the Gorons' behavior. Many villagers came to Renado to ask if they could hurry and just go talk to the Gorons, but he was very strict about them leaving the Gorons to their own affairs for a while longer. One specific day, Renado was collecting water from the Eldin spring when he heard the strangest noises coming from just outside the village. Standing straight, he noticed that many villagers had exited their homes and shops to investigate this sudden outburst in the village. A few of the braver men walked to the southwestern entrance to the village where the noises had begun. Only one made it back, his face pale as paper.

"Monsters!" He exclaimed and ran passed the crowd of people. Women cried out and began to run for their homes, their children being dragged along with them. The men stayed with Renado and the shaman turned to Barnes, pushing his daughter, Luda, toward the man.

"Take my daughter to the sanctuary and make sure she is safe." He requested, to which Barnes happily agreed. It looked as if he wanted no part in what was happening outside. He took the small girl to the sanctuary and the shaman looked at the townsmen. "Gather weapons from your homes and gather here. This must happen quickly!"

It took minutes for the men to gather their weapons and return to where Renado had commanded. However, that was when the dark creatures began to enter the village. They were like nothing the villagers had ever seen in their lives. The first group of fighters stood closer to the odd demons while many others stayed near the homes to protect the women. They were unaware that the dark creatures were also entering from the northwester entrance of the village until it was almost too late. A few explosions erupted as Barnes threw a few of his bombs (at least, the ones he had left) in order to try and destroy the demons, but they were unimpressed.

Amongst the chaos, bulblins began to enter the village, their King close by. They fought the creatures that got in their way and in the end, lost what they had been carrying with them. From near the sanctuary, Renado spotted that the bulblins had dropped small bundles. While the dark creatures were distracted by the bulblins, the shaman rushed up to where he saw four unconscious children. He called out to Barnes, who quickly came since he had been on his way back to the sanctuary after running out of bombs. With the bomb dealer's help, Renado was able to take the four children to his sanctuary, where he, his daughter, Barnes, and the four children would remain. Barnes kept an eye out through the window and watched as one of the demons entered the general store where a very kind, older lady sold many different items. Men ran in after it and moments later, two of the demons emerged from the store.

The bomb man slid down the wall, his back up against it with his eyes full of fear. He pulled down his face mask and sat there for a few moments while Renado took a few strips of cloth from a small kit he had. He dipped the strips in the water he had collected from the spring earlier and placed a strip of wet cloth on each of the unconscious children's foreheads. Luda watched her father with a grim expression, her lips pressed in a frown and her hands clenched tightly. 

Unknown to them, the dark creatures had come to the spring of Eldin with their power, ripped away the light of the spirit. Eldin Province was plunged into the twilight.

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Lake Hylia was calm and the Zoras were working their patrol around the lake and the Zoras' Domain. The horror of what had happened at the Castle Town was not revealed to them as no one had the guts to leave the town in fear of death by the increasing danger outside their walls. Queen Rutela sat at her throne in Zoras' Domain, her lips pressed together tightly in thought as her hand came to her chin. She sensed something was wrong in Hyrule, but she was unable to quite pinpoint why she felt that way. Her eyes seemed to look distantly through the throne room until she felt a slight chill in the air. Frowning, she stood from her throne and stepped forward. It was nearing the end of spring…Why would it suddenly get cold?

Many other Zoras seemed to notice this change and looked to their queen for answers. Rushing to his mother's side, Prince Ralis looked up at the woman with questioning eyes. Rutela gave her son a comforting smile before looking out to the waterfalls. Things seemed normal enough. She began to speak with a few of the royal guards of the Zora monarchy. However, she had been cut short in mid-sentence as she heard a light cracking. She turned quickly to see that the water was beginning to turn to ice. Was it possible for water to freeze so quickly like that? This began to greatly worry the queen and she turned to her son. She knew something was coming and needed to get her son out of there and to safety. She knelt in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder looking into his eyes. 

"Ralis, my dear, please listen to the words I am to tell you. Something is happening to our home and I need you to alert the matriarch of Hyrule, Zelda, of the ice building through the domain."

"But mother…" He began to protest, but Rutela placed her pink finger on his lips.

"Shh…No more words for now. I need you to do this for me. You're the only one I trust who can do this job properly. I must stay here and attend to our people. As future ruler of our people, please go quickly to Hyrule Castle and alert the matriarch."

Ralis swallowed hard as he looked into his mother's hard, yet gentle, eyes. He hesitantly nodded and turned, running toward the waterfall. Looking down below, he could see the ice had not yet reached the bottom of the waterfall. He dove into the cold water below and began to swim through, missing the dark creatures that were walking on the land. The monsters put their hands into the waters of the domain and the water slowly began to freeze. They continued on and once they made it to the top of the waterfall, they walked into the throne room. It was simple to walk in since the water at the top was completely frozen.

Rutela's harsh eyes caught sights of these creatures. Only a few of her guards stood at her side as many others were frozen in the water below. Many Zoras from the lake had come to see what the sudden stop in the movement of water was all about and could only watch in horror as Rutela tried to fight off the monsters when her guards had fallen. She did everything in her power, but they were much too strong. Right before their eyes, the Zoras watched as their queen was captured. A person in strange armor soon slipped out from behind the throne, walking to where the creatures were holding Rutela. The queen glared up at the person, seeming to know it was him behind all of this.

"The weak do not deserve the royal blood that flows through their veins. You are truly a pathetic race." The figure turned to the monsters that held the queen. "Kill her."

Many Zoras cried out and gasped, some even tried to lunge forward to defend their queen, but it was too late. The dark creatures began to tear the queen's body apart with sharp claws. Cries of pain came from Rutela's throat until she was no longer there physically. Many Zoras tried to flee, but as they made it to the waterfalls, they were horrified at the sight of their waters completely frozen. They knew it would be only a matter of days before the lake would begin to suffer.

And they were right. Four days after the horrifying scene, the lake's waters had slowly begun to drop. They weren't sure if it was because the waterfalls were frozen or because of these dark creatures…All they knew was the lake's waters had been reduced to almost nothing. People in Castle Town suffered from this as their fountains ran dry and their water source was disappearing. It was as if this was the end of Hyrule.

It was then that the dark creatures stole the light away from the spirit in the Lanayru spring and left all but one small part of Hyrule in twilight.

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The day was slowly disappearing and the people of Ordon Village were beginning to settle into their evening routines. Sera was closing down shop as her cat walked about her legs. Pergie and Uli were taking in laundry from the line, chattering about how close Uli was to finally having her baby. The children, Beth, Malo, and Talo, were off playing in the pond while Colin, the one usually left out of play, was working on the fishing rod he was planning on giving to his idol.

Two figures sat by the spring of Faron, gazing into its waters while silence surrounded them. They seemed comfortable in the silence for now. Soon, the older man gazed at the blonde next to him before looking up to the sky.

"Tell me...Do you ever feel a strange sadness as dusk falls..?"


End file.
